Over the past few years we have seen video games slowly work their way into the educational system. Mostly on the collegiate level. For some of my older readers you may recall that a little while back I talked about a college which was offering a degree in Game Design. That decision had become pretty popular and put them on the map for hopeful gamers wishing to make it in the gaming industry.

Since then there have been certain instances where classes have been offered on specific video games with Starcraft being a main focal point. Well it seems that there is a course being offered, at the University of Florida, on Starcraft once again. The course, 21st Century Skills in Starcraft, is being taught by Nate Poling who is an Educational Technology Doctoral Student. In other words this guy is working on getting his PHD.

The course description is as follows (taken directly from the website):

21st Century Skills in Starcraft is an 8 week entirely online course that uses the popular real time strategy (RTS) game Starcraft to teach valuable 21st Century Skills through a hands-on approach. With society becoming increasingly technology-based and fast-paced, it is important for professionals to be highly proficient in skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, resource management, and adaptive decision making. These skills are fundamental in Starcraft and therefore make the game a highly effective environment for students to analyze and take action in complex situations. Computer and video games of all types have become a major part of today's entertainment and technology worlds. Also, online education is an area of intense growth with many employers and professions using online courses and workshops for career development. This course synthesizes the three threads of 21st Century skill development, gaming, and online education into an innovative and experiential approach that encourages students to identify, learn, and practice crucial skills and apply and relate them to real-world situations. It does not teach about Starcraft, but rather aims to utilize the game and the complex situations that arise within it to present and develop the important skills professionals will undoubtedly need in the 21st Century workplace.

This course includes required weekly game play, viewing and analysis of recorded matches, written assignments which emphasize analysis and synthesis of real/game-world concepts, and collaboration with other students. Due to the unique and innovative nature of this course, there are several requirements that students must meet. Students taking this course must have access to computer (PC or Mac) and Internet resources outside of UF labs since it requires the installation and playing of a computer game. Students must also have at least basic knowledge of and experience playing Starcraft. Students must also be independent, self-motivated, and able and willing to learn in an entirely online environment. Enrollment is limited to 20.

Now who wouldn’t want to take a course like this? I agree that the resource management, in Starcraft, can be applicable to modern-day business. It can certainly teach a person about resource management and it can also teach that same person to make snap decisions on the spot making this an interesting way to teach such skills

Yet should this class prove to be successful then this could, potentially, open up even more opportunities for certain games to teach similar or other skills.

Now a little while ago I remember reading an article with how some recruiters look for people who play World of Warcraft because it teaches them how to socialize with other people. And this is true, especially if you are in a guild. Gamers learn to be part of a large social group with clear cut goals. Playing such a game teaches you to become a vocal, and integral, part of a team.

The Guild II, a medieval sim, could teach people about running a business which is completely applicable to modern day mercantilism. You start off with a small amount of money and with it, if you are successful, can become a business mogul who is wealthy and powerful. In the game you will find yourself in charge of employees, buying and selling goods, and even running for office making this a perfect game for teaching up and coming business people some much needed skills which seem to be lacking in most businesses today.

For those of you, who are older like myself, you may recall that airline pilots were being taught how to fly those jumbo jets through the old Flight Simulator games. Why? Because the Flight Simulator games were very difficult and very realistic (I really sucked at the simulator game).

But what do you think of all this? Are you of the same opinion that Starcraft can teach such skills for modern business? Or do you think that this will teach nothing and it is a waste of time? And could this, possibly, lead to other game being used to teach skills in the business world?

Off-topic:

Don't forget that the R.U.S.E. demo is out on Steam, for the pc, and PSN, plus members only. Next week anyone with a ps3 will be able to download the demo and try the game out.

If you don't know what R.U.S.E. is then check out yesterday's blog to learn more about it.

The sun was still rising as the 3rd Marine Battalion arrived on the outskirts of a town when a Zerg force was spotted off in the distance heading towards them. Surveying the enemy through his binoculars General Jackson said, “Colonel Bishop. How quickly do you estimate those insectoids will make it to the town?”

“About an hour sir,” replied Bishop, who had been standing beside the General. “Not enough time to properly set up a defense here in Elysium.”

“I’m aware of that Colonel,” Jackson replied tartly without looking at Bishop. “I’m going to take 400 men and buy you enough time to set up a perimeter around this place. We will hold our position about half-a-click north where we saw those abandoned houses.”

“Yes sir,” was Bishop’s reply. Yet as General Jackson removed his binoculars, and started to move away, Bishop added, “Forgive me General. But might I suggest that you stage your defense at that cluster of boulders we passed by about a kilometer out? They would provide better cover and make it easier to defend your position.”

General Jackson finally turned to look at Bishop with a cold stare. “If I wanted your advice I would have asked for it Colonel.” And with that the General walked off shouting orders.

“I see he still hasn’t taken a liking to ya Colonel darling,” a mild voice said with a slight brogue.

Turning his gaze from the departing troops Bishop stared at Captain Macintyre, who stood there grinning. “I guess not Mac,” Bishop replied in an exasperated voice.

“Does he still think that ya weren’t deserving of your rank,” Macintyre asked. “Just because ya saved that one General’s daughter, and he promoted ya as a reward, doesn’t mean ya aren’t deserving of it. Ya just got it a little sooner than normal.”

Bishop sighed as he replied, “What can I do? The man has made up his mind about me.” Suddenly he shouted, “Lieutenant Brand!”

Quickly an armored marine, wearing a blue armor suit like Bishop and Macintyre, ran up and saluted, “Yes sir!”

“Have 200 of our men start building a four foot wall here on the northern side of town. 100 men each for the eastern, western, and southern sides as well. The last hundred I want on the rooftops of the tallest buildings.” Bishop quickly looked back at the town where only a few buildings were three stories tall, making them the best places for the marines. “Their job will be to keep an eye out for enemy flyers and ground forces approaching the city.”

“Yes sir!” Lieutenant Brand replied and took off while shouting out the orders.

“Mac,” Bishop said as he turned his attention to the Captain. “Head into town, find the mayor, and inform him that we are going to need everyone’s help in defending this place.”

“Right away,” Mac answered. Quickly he ran down one of the streets that led to the middle of the town.

Seeing Lieutenant Brand off a ways, handing out work assignments to the different units, Bishop turned on the communicator in his helmet. “Lieutenant Brand. I’m heading into the city to coordinate things with the Mayor. Inform me when the General engages the Zerg.”

“Aye sir,” was Brand’s reply.

Slinging his rifle over one shoulder Bishop headed down the same road that Mac had taken and pondered the situation. They had been left stranded once word of the Zerg invasion had been sent out. There would be no reinforcements because the rest of the military would be focusing on protecting the large cities such as Typhon.

Sooner than expected, Bishop arrived at the center of town. The area was large and wide and, in one corner of the square, there was the Administration Building where the Mayor’s Office would be. It was the largest building in Elysium and Bishop noticed that some of his marines were already on the rooftop keeping watch.

As he continued to assess the area he could see groups of people heading off in different directions, with great urgency, and a larger group heading north. Those that stayed in the Town Square were mostly women and children with senior citizens scattered around. The children were crying and the mothers tried to calm them down as they tried to hide their own fear.

Immediately Bishop spotted Mac, who stood out in his blue armor, and waved him over. Swiftly Mac moved through the crowd and once he got close Bishop said, “Report.”

“Bit of a hiccup. The Mayor died a couple days ago,” replied Macintyre. “Luckily, the Deputy Mayor is more than capable and has been organizing the town for the past couple of hours. Sam Stafford, now Mayor, made sure to have everyone come to town once they heard of the Zerg invasion.”

“That’s good to hear,” Bishop said as he breathed a sigh of relief. With all the citizens already in town he could put them to work right away. “Take me to the Mayor, Mac. Let’s get these citizens prepared and have them help out with the barricade.”

With a small smile Captain Macintyre answered, “Certainly sir.”

Bishop and Macintyre made their way through the crowd of people to a spot where two civilians were chatting. One was a middle-aged bald man who was talking to an attractive young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties.

Making his way to them Bishop extended his hand to the older gentleman and introduced himself, “Good morning Mayor. I’m Colonel Bishop. It’s a pleasure to meet you and I was…” Suddenly Bishop stopped talking because the man was staring at him with a strange expression. Looking off to the side he noticed that Macintyre was trying not to laugh.

Confused, Bishop asked uncertainly, “Perhaps I’ve made a mistake?”

At this the young woman smiled and took Bishop’s hand, which had still been held out, in her own and said, “Pleasure to meet you Colonel. I’m Mayor Sam Stafford and welcome to Elysium. Population 250.”

Bishop could feel his face heat up a little as he replied, “I’m sorry about that Mayor Stafford. I didn’t expect you to be a woman. I mean. Not with the first name of Sam.”

Sweetly and condescendingly Sam replied, “Sam can be a girl’s name just as well as a boy’s.”

“That’s not what I meant...” Bishop stammered, embarrassed at his mistake.

“It’s quite alright Colonel,” Sam interrupted. “However we need to get down to business. Captain Macintyre has told me what you are doing and I’ve already sent many of our citizens to help your men build the barricade. We have plenty of sandbags and cinderblocks handy. They should make the construction go a lot faster.”

As Sam talked, Bishop was able to recover from his initial embarrassment, “Very good. Now I saw a gun shop as I was coming in and would like…”

“For all our citizens to arm themselves and help defend the town,” Sam said as she finished his sentence. “Trust me Colonel. We’ve heard stories of the Zerg and are prepared to do everything we can to survive. Most of our citizens own weapons for protection against bandits, so don’t worry about us.”

“Well you’re certainly making things easier for us Mayor Stafford,” Bishop said as the crowd started to disperse and go about their assigned tasks. “Once that outer wall is up though I’ll need the citizens’ help in getting a few other things done once I get approval from the General.”

“Very well Colonel,” Sam said as she motioned to the older man to go on. “We’ll be sure to comply with all your orders.”

“Thank you Mayor.”

Suddenly Bishop’s earpiece crackled with static and he heard the voice of Lieutenant Brand, “Colonel. Lookouts report that the Zerg have engaged General Jackson.”

Bishop responded, “Thank you Lieutenant, I’ll be there shortly.”

Returning his attention back to the Deputy Mayor he said, “You’ll have to forgive me, I need to return back to the northern perimeter. The Zerg have attacked our forces about half a kilometer away from here.”

“That would be where the Martin and Sheffield homesteads are,” Sam stated. “Go on Colonel, I’ll make sure to keep the civilian populace calm and organized.”

With a nod of his head Bishop turned around and headed back north with Captain Macintyre by his side. Looking over at Mac, who still had a grin on his face, Bishop asked, “You just can’t resist having fun huh? You couldn’t tell me before hand that the Deputy Mayor was a woman?”

Shrugging his shoulders Macintyre replied, “What’s the point of living life, Colonel darling, if ya cannot enjoy it? Now let me tell ya about the town.”

As they walked back to the northern perimeter Macintyre reported his findings to Bishop. The town had a simple layout. There were only four streets which went in each direction. The Administrative Building was the largest structure in Town with the Town Square being the only open area in Elysium. An assortment of shops lined the streets such as the gun shop, tailor, bakeries, food stores, and various shops that sold different commodities. The type of stores a small town would have. Since everything was so close together the only way in and out of the town were through the streets and a few back alleys.

By the time Macintyre had finished his report, they had reached the barricade. The civilians had brought in some heavy equipment and pushed back some dirt to make a crude four foot tall barrier while the marines started stacking the cinderblocks and sandbags up alongside it.

They were making good progress, with the wall half done, but Bishop noticed that a good portion of the marines and civilians had stopped working. Those that stopped were trying to see the fight that was going on further out as the faint sound of gunfire was heard off in the distance.

“Get back to work,” Bishop shouted incredulously. “Those men and women are dying out there in order to buy us some time to build this wall! Don’t let their sacrifice go to waste! Do you want the Zerg to catch us unprepared!?”

“NO SIR!” was the combined shout of all the marines as they went back to their task with renewed vigor.

Shaking his head Bishop took out his binoculars to get a look at the fight while yelling, “Comm!”

Quickly a marine ran up to him with a large communications box attached to his back and saluted.

Without looking Bishop asked, “Any word from the General?”

“No sir.”

“Try and establish contact and let me know when you get him.”

“Yes sir,” the Comm Officer replied.

Through the binoculars Bishop could just make out the two homesteads in the distance with marines up on the roof and inside the houses. All around them were the Zerg who were trying to overwhelm them.

Removing his binoculars he called over Lieutenant Brand and asked, “How soon will the entire wall be finished?”

Brand scratched his head as he took stock of their progress. “At the rate we are going the northern wall will be finished in twenty minutes. We already have a dirt wall running around the entire town thanks to those bulldozers the civvies had. But to reinforce them with the sandbags and cinderblocks will take a little time. If I can pull most of the men from this wall, to help with the others, we can have everything finished in less than two hours.”

“Very well,” Bishop replied. “Take all the men but fifty. We’re going to need some marines here in case a few of the Zerg decide to ignore our men out there and come straight for the town.”

“Sir,” the Comm Officer said, “I have the General on the line.” He held out the phone for Bishop to take.

Grabbing the phone Bishop dismissed Brand and inquired, “General, how are things going out there?” For a few seconds there was no answer and he wondered whether the General had heard him over the sounds of gunfire, screaming, and a cacophony of other sounds.

“We are holding them for now Colonel,” General Jackson finally said. “There appears to be about a thousand Zerg but we’ve spotted another group heading towards us. How is the wall progressing?”

“The entire town will be encased in less than two hours sir. I’ll let you know when it is done.”

“Better finish it faster than that Colonel,” Jackson admonished. “That secondary force will be hitting us in about an hour. Jackson out!”

With a click the phone went silent and Bishop said over his helmet’s comm., “Lieutenant Brand, we are going to need to get this wall up faster. A second Zerg force has been spotted. I want you to leave just ten men here and leave 25 men on the roofs. Use everyone else for this task.”

“Yes sir!”

“Hopefully we won’t be attacked,” Bishop commented to Macintyre who had been standing beside him the entire time. “You’ll be staying here with me Mac and being my go-to guy if need be.”

“Ya just can’t live without me Colonel darling,” Macintyre stated with a grin.

For the next hour nothing else was said as time slowly dragged on. The northern wall had been finished quickly and work on the other three sides were going at a rapid pace. But a dark mood hung over the marines. Their comrades were out there buying the time they needed with their lives.

As the hour wound down Bishop had removed his armor, keeping the communicator, and was wearing just his combat fatigues. Looking back towards the town he saw Mayor Stafford approaching the wall and couldn’t help but admire the way she held herself as she walked straight towards Macintyre and himself.

“She’s quite the sight eh Colonel darling,” Macintyre said as he also watched Sam approach them. The two men took in her petite yet curvaceous form as her long hair was tossed about by the slight breeze.

“Mayor Stafford,” Bishop said in greeting.

As she got close to them Sam said, “Well Colonel, I must say that you look a lot smaller without that armor.”

Immediately Macintyre started to laugh as he said, “That’s what all the women say!”

“Captain Macintyre,” Bishop shouted, “That is highly inappropriate!” Bishop felt his face flush. He couldn’t believe that Macintyre was doing this to him.

Sam turned her attention to the Captain and, with a smile, asked, “And you would know this how?”

Without missing a beat Macintyre responded, “I would know this because I’ve known the Colonel since the Academy.” In a more confidential tone he added, “We showered together.”

“Damn it Mac,” Bishop bellowed. “If you’re going to embarrass me then do it out of earshot so I don’t have to hear it!”

While he would have dearly loved giving the order to stop Mac from saying all this, he noticed the effect it was having on the ten men who had been left to protect the northern wall. They were smiling and their morale had improved at his expense. When the rest of the men returned these marines would relay everything that happened and hopefully everyone’s spirits would improve.

It was a small price to pay but a highly embarrassing one.

“Whatever ya desire Colonel darling,” replied Macintyre. The two of them moved only ten feet away.

Bishop was pretty sure Mac had done it on purpose so that he would be able to hear everything that was said.

In a loud whisper the Captain kept talking, “I first met the Colonel when we were both raw recruits at the Academy. We had just gotten through our first day and were standing at attention. Well our Drill Sergeant said, “All right you morons. Fall out!” and like good little grunts we did what we were told. All of us except for one man.”

Macintyre pointed at Bishop while the Colonel pretended to be occupied by bringing his binoculars up and staring out across the desert. He tried to present a calm exterior, while his face was still slightly flushed, as Mac continued on with the story. “So the Drill Sergeant notices the one cadet still standing at attention and goes right over to him and screams “Well?” The Colonel just looks at him calmly and says “There sure were a lot of them, huh sir?””

“I thought he was going to,” Mac said as he laughed. “Instead the old Drill Sergeant just laughed, clapped him on the shoulder, and told him he was dismissed. However some of the boys didn’t like it and I knew right then and there that the Colonel would need someone to watch his back. Since that day we have been together ever since.”

“For a guy who looks so small without his armor, he sure has some brass balls,” Sam remarked in a playful tone.

Bishop had finally recovered from the embarrassment but as he was about to reply to that remark his comm unit activated and Lieutenant Brand spoke, “Colonel! We’ve just about finished the wall!”

“Great job Lieutenant,” Bishop answered. “Comm officer over here,” He shouted and spoke again to Brand as the Comm Officer ran over to him. “Have everyone report back to their positions. 200 men north, 100 for each side, and 100 on the roof.”

“Yes sir!”

Looking over at the Comm Officer Bishop asked, “Do you have the General?” the Comm Officer nodded and handed him the phone. “General. The wall is complete.” As Bishop waited for a reply he motioned for the Comm Officer to give Sam a communicator.

Over the sounds of the gunfire and screams General Jackson replied, “You couldn’t have cut it any closer Colonel! That second wave of Zergs is almost here. Now under no circumstances are you to leave the wall. No matter how this turns out you stay there and protect the town. We will begin, and maintain, an orderly retreat for as long as possible until we get to the wall. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” Bishop answered and the phone went dead. Turning to look over at Macintyre and Mayor Stafford he said, “Get our boys ready when they get back here. The General is pulling back to the wall.”

“How close is that second Zerg army,” Macintyre asked.

“Wait a minute,” Sam interjected. “There is a second Zerg army closing in? How large?”

“We don’t know,” Bishop said. “Mayor, I’m going to need your citizens to start building a second wall in the Town Square and connect it to the Administrative building. Make it so that the wall is twenty feet away from the buildings and street. That will be our killing ground.”

Sam’s eyes widened, “Are you saying you won’t be able to hold here?”

“We’ll be able to hold for a little while. But make no mistake. The Zerg will send more reinforcements if we’re successful in wiping out this group. Right now the Zerg are focusing on the large population centers and we are an afterthought.”

“Quite a lot of Zerg to be sending to one little town isn’t it,” Macintyre observed.

“That first wave was the original force,” Colonel Bishop surmised. “They weren’t expecting heavy resistance. When they encountered the General they probably called for reinforcements.” Looking out across the desert plain, to where the General would be coming from, he continued. “If we can wipe out this force we’ll buy ourselves a short respite.”

“Will the Dominion come in time,” Sam asked with a worried expression on her face.

“Hopefully,” Bishop answered honestly. “But Corinth is just a planet on the edge of Dominion space. All we can do is hold out for as long as we can and hope the Dominion fleet gets here in time.” Then completely changing the subject he asked Sam, “Is your town capable of carrying out Protocol 13?”

Bishop figured that, as the former Deputy Mayor, Sam had been made aware of the Protocol, just as he had been told about it when he had become a Colonel. It was a highly classified protocol that had been created in the event of another Zerg invasion.

Quietly Sam replied, “It is.”

“Good,” Bishop said as he noticed marines returning to the wall and getting ready to repel the Zerg. “I’m going to send a small demolitions team to rig all the buildings, on the outskirts of town, to blow up. It will help buy us some time should we need to retreat from the first wall.”

“But those buildings are my people’s livelihood,” Sam protested.

“Better to lose your possessions than to lose your lives,” Bishop countered. “Now please Sam,” Bishop pleaded, using her first name by itself for the first time. “I need you to start constructing that wall, clear out that ammo store, and stockpile it in the Administration building.”

Nodding her head Sam started to take off down the road. But before she left she said to Macintyre, “He’s pretty cute when he blushes right captain?”

Macintyre replied, “That he is darling. And please, call me Mac.”

As Sam ran off to the middle of town Bishop felt a slight flush at her comment, turned to Macintyre, and ordered, “Get a demolitions team together and rig those buildings.”

“Yes sir,” the Captain replied with a grin. Before he left he added, in a more somber tone, “The General won’t like it that ya made plans without talking to him about it first.”

“He can demote me for all I care. Right now I’m thinking about how best to hold out for as long as we can.” Bishop stated.

Without another word Macintyre moved off to assemble a team to rig the outermost buildings.

Suddenly a Marine yelled out, “I see them!”

There was no need to ask who he had seen. Immediately all eyes turned northward where they saw the remnants, of the 400 men, moving towards them while trying to hold back the Zerg forces. A huge cloud of dust was being kicked up by the large enemy group and the sounds of gunfire and screaming could be heard clearly now.

Looking through his binoculars the sight Bishop saw was not promising. There were less than two hundred marines trying to make it back to the town. The enemy reinforcements had caught up to them and were attempting to surround the survivors. Mutalisks, Zerg flyers, were high in the air waving their tails at the marines, which released a deadly projectile, or dive bombing them in the hopes of raking their unsuspecting victims.

While the marines continued to get closer Bishop spotted the General, in his black armor, among the men. He was shouting out orders while firing his rifle at the enemy. For now he was holding them together and they were keeping the Zerg at bay. Then suddenly Bishop saw a large spiked object burst through the General’s chest and immediately Jackson dropped.

“Damn,” Bishop exclaimed. Once the General went down the ordered retreat turned into a partial rout. Marines started running for the barrier. A small group continued to maintain order and, through their efforts, kept the enemy at bay.

Yet a quarter of the marines had routed, weakening both flanks. The Zerg started to pass the small group and come around to surround them. By complete luck the marines were close enough that Bishop and his men could offer supporting fire.

“Captain Macintyre,” Bishop shouted. “I want you to keep their flanks protected! Shoot any Zerg that try to get around our boys out there!”

“Yes sir,” Macintyre shouted in reply. “Sections 1 and 3,” Mac said, referring to the men on the far left and right of the barricade, “commence firing! Section 2,” this time talking to the men in the middle, “move back five feet from the wall. Our boys are going to be coming through there and I don’t want everyone to get tangled up!”

All along the wall the sound of machine gun fire added to the sporadic firing of their beleaguered comrades. With the flanks secure the small group continued to make their way to the wall while those, who had routed, ran up and jumped over the barrier and sat down.

Quickly making his way over to the routers, Bishop shouted, “Get back on your feet and up to the barricade! You ran out on your comrades and almost got them slaughtered! We are going to be hit by almost 3,000 Zerg and I’m going to need every one of you to help defend the wall!”

“Lieutenants Brand, Thompson, and Riley, “Bishop said over the communicator. The three Lieutenants were in charge of a different wall around the town. “Send me 25 men from each of your areas to help reinforce the northern wall. In about 5 minutes we are going to be hit hard by the full Zerg force and will be hard-pressed to hold them back.” Bishop than addressed Lieutenant Wilson ,who was in command of the men on top of the roofs, “Have your men fire on their air units the second they are in range. Thankfully there are only about a 100 of them but they need to be taken out quickly.”

As everyone acknowledged his orders Bishop pulled out a large knife and attached it to the front of his rifle and shouted, “Everyone fix your knives!” The order was spread up and down the wall and marines quickly attached the knives to their rifles. If the Zerg were to get too close then the marines would need every advantage they could get if they had to go hand-to-hand.

“Colonel,” Macintyre said as he rushed up. “Ya need to be putting your armor back on.”

Bishop looked over to where the cumbersome armor lay. “Forget it Mac. It slows me down and I’m going to be needing speed more than protection.”

“I’m not going anywhere until ya at least put on the chest piece first,” Macintyre stated. There was not a trace of mirth on his face as he waited for Bishop to put it on.

Grudgingly Bishop complied with the Captain’s request and asked, “Satisfied?”

“No,” Macintyre replied. “But it will have to do.” And suddenly Mac grinned, “Just don’t come crying to me when a random projectile nails ya in those “brass balls” of yours.”

Rolling his eyes Bishop looked again and saw that both the surviving marines and Zerg forces were about to hit the wall. Motioning to Macintyre they ran up to the middle section of the wall and prepared to open fire once the survivors had made it.

While the sound of gunfire was rampant along the first and third sections it was deadly silent in the second. The tension was thick as the marines there knew they were going to be hit the hardest in the initial attack.

Seconds seemed like an eternity as the survivors made their way to the middle section of the wall. Then it finally happened. The survivors were there and jumping over the wall to escape the Zerg which had been nipping at their heels. As the last of the survivors cleared the fence Bishop, Mac, and the marines stepped back up to the wall and opened fire.

The battle for Elysium had begun in earnest.

Immediately a hail of bullets greeted the Zerg army and shredded their chitinous exoskeletons. For a few seconds it looked as if the enemy would be held back until a large wave pushed forward and was getting closer to the wall. Every now and then one of the airborne Mutilisks would fall out from the sky as the ground forces were dying by the dozens. But against 3,000 Zerg, the mere 300 or so marines would not be able to hold them back.

At least not without reinforcements.

Suddenly an old-style Winchester rifle appeared on Bishop’s right and opened fired on the Zerg forces. All along the wall additional weapons sprouted up, which were not military issue, but proved just as deadly to the oncoming swarm.

Under this additional barrage the Zerg forces slowed down and Bishop shouted, “Grenades!” As the order was repeated each marine threw one of their two grenades into the swarm and suddenly the sound of gunfire was drowned out by the deafening explosion of the grenades.

The detonation of 200 grenades was enough to scatter and disorient the swarm while inflicting heavy damage because they had been clustered together.

Looking over to his right Bishop saw that it was Sam wielding the rifle in a proficient manner. But instead of being relieved by the timely help he was a little angry as he said, “You are supposed to be building that second wall!”

“I heard your orders for reinforcements over that comm unit you gave me, “Sam replied nonchalantly as she fed bullets into the rifle’s loading port. “So a “thank you” would be nice since we just helped you out.” With that said she pulled back the cocking lever, which loaded a bullet into the chamber, and aimed her rifle at the Zerg which had fallen back.

Bishop, while impressed with her skills, was still irritated, “Thank you for your help. But I need that barrier up. My reinforcements should be here any minute.” Just as he finished talking the reinforcements finally arrived and took up position along the wall.

“Quit worrying about the barrier,” Sam replied. “It is already done.”

“How did you get it up so fast?” Bishop demanded.

“You make it so easy,” Sam said as she grinned. Off to Bishop’s left Macintyre barked out a short laugh. “But I’m not going to tell you. You’ll find out how we did it should you have to fall back.”

“Speaking of falling back,” Bishop added. “That’s what you and your people need to do. And that’s an order!”

“Don’t order me around Colonel,” Sam fired back. “I’m not one of your soldiers. I’m going to stay and help defend this wall along with my people.”

“No you won’t! I need you at the second barrier. If we have to fall back then we’re going to need people there to hold the Zerg back while we rest up and get situated.”

“Fine, then how about I...”

“I hate to be interrupting this lover’s quarrel,” Macintyre interjected. “But the Zerg are splitting up and preparing to attack. So end this now ya two lovebirds.”

Speechless Bishop and Sam looked at each other and then at Macintyre who pretended to ignore them while grinning.

In a softer tone Bishop said, “Sam, you need to trust me on this. I need you and your people back at the second barricade.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Please.”

Giving him a long look Sam shouted out to her people and they all returned to the Town Square.

Quickly Bishop asked for reports from all sectors. Along the three other walls smaller Zerg forces had gathered while the bulk stayed to the north. Even though the other three walls were down to 75 men each, Bishop was told that they could hold. On the roof they reported taking down three dozen flyers while losing five men while at the northern perimeter Bishop had lost 20 men and 15 were wounded. Of the 400 men who had gone out with the General. Only 103 remained. The rest dead, including the General.

Taking advantage of this lull Bishop ordered the 103 survivors to stand down and rest. Then he addressed the troops over the Comm channel, “Men, as you all know our General, Rook Jackson, died while buying us time to prepare the defense of this town. But because of our situation I will be brief. General Jackson was a good man and a great General. His leadership will be missed.”

Immediately Macintyre’s voice came over the comm., “Attention!” And everywhere in town the soldiers immediately stood straight up. “Salute!” For thirty seconds the soldiers’ held that pose to honor their fallen leader.

“As you were,” Bishop finally said as he checked the position of the sun. It was partially past its apex. Yet it felt as if days had passed.

“Here they come again,” a marine shouted and, sure enough, the Zerg forces were heading straight for them. All too soon the fight was renewed with the sound of gunfire being answered by the thwipping of spiked projectiles from the swarm.

Men screamed and died. Zerg shrieked with pain and rage. And yet both sides continued to deal death. For every marine lost, two Zerg would fall, but it wouldn’t be enough Bishop realized. They were outnumbered at least 3-to-one now despite inflicting heavy casualties on their enemy.

Suddenly, amidst the foe, Bishop saw a creature that was 3 meters long, had four legs, and a large yellow sack on its back that contained an acid which could eat through anything.

“Mac,” Bishop shouted. “We got Banelings incoming! Have one in three marines focus on those little suckers!”

As Mac repeated the orders, Banelings started to explode within the Zerg swarm as those assigned to take them out complied. The results were that the Banelings exploded and covered their insectoid comrades in acid, which caused great harm and death. For a little while the Banelings were helping.

But then one Baneling got too close before it was finally killed. It exploded and acid rained down on a section of the wall and its defenders. Amid screams of horrific pain five meters of the wall was eaten away. All at once the Zerg charged the breach.

Instantly Bishop ordered men into the hole to hold off the enemy. For another twenty minutes the fight continued until the enemy finally pulled back. Yet the cost had been heavy. 100 men were dead with an additional 72 wounded. Almost half his forces, on the northern wall, were now dead or incapacitated.

With reports coming in Bishop discovered that he had lost another 100 marines from the other walls and roof combined. The western wall had been overrun and had to be reinforced by twenty men from the roof.

It was time to consider falling back to the second barricade.

As orders were issued to move all the supplies and wounded to the second barricade the Comms Ofiicer rushed up to Bishop. “Sir! A strange message is being broadcasted over the emergency channel!”

“What is it,” Bishop asked immediately.

“It is just four words that keep repeating. Protocol 13 in effect.”

Bishops heart skipped a beat, “When did this start up?”

“About a minute ago sir.”

Immediately Bishop started to scan the horizon for evidence and heard a marine shout, “Look over there!”

As one everybody turned to see a mushroom cloud off in the distance where Typhon city, one of the largest on the planet, was located.

All at once marines started to ask questions until Macintyre yelled, “Shutup! You have your orders to carry out. Get those wounded and supplies back to the second barricade while the rest of you stand at your post and keep silent!”

While telling the Comms Officer to keep quiet about what he heard, Bishop motioned for Macintyre to join him. When the Captain got close Bishop whispered, “Mac, I need you to run down to the second barricade and ask Sam to show you Protocol 13.” Looking back at the mushroom cloud Macintyre replied, “If you say so Colonel.” He took off at a run.

Over the comm channel Bishop said, “Sam. I’m sending Mac to you. Please do as he asks.”

Sam’s frantic voice answered back, “Is that what I think it is over in the direction of Typhon city?”

“Yes.”

“Oh god.”

“Don’t give up hope,” Bishop replied in a determined voice. “We’re going to last long enough for the Dominion to rescue us.”

“I hope so,” Sam replied.

“We are going to be falling back shortly Sam,” Bishop added. “So tell your people to be ready. And have the women and children sent down into the lowest level of the building. Have Mac assign four marines to protect them.”

“I will.”

Everything was falling apart as Colonel Bishop started to lay out the plan of retreat to all the positions. Those on the roof would immediately pull back to the Administration building. The men at the walls would be divided into two groups. The first would hold their position and fight the Zerg. The second group would fall back ten feet and hold that position until the first group was past them. Once the first group had gone ten feet they would stop and hold position. The plan was to have the two groups leapfrog over each other. This would make retreating safer.

Once they were twenty feet inside the town the demo team would detonate the buildings which would buy the marines some time to cover ground more quickly.

But as the last of the wounded and supplies were being carried away the Zerg attacked.

Bishop couldn’t begin the retreat until the wounded had made it to the second barrier. For 15 minutes, all along the entire perimeter, the marines slugged it out, just barely holding on. Yet as they fought the marines couldn’t help but notice more mushroom clouds appear all over the horizon. In every direction a new mushroom cloud would show up and morale would continue to sink lower.

Finally Bishop received word that all the wounded and supplies had made it to the second barrier. Right away he issued the retreat. Immediately the second group retreated ten feet and waited. Bishop had decided to stay with the first group and, when the second was in position, ordered them to pull back.

But as Bishop pulled back he looked out past the Zerg army into the distance. What he saw made his blood go cold. Despite there not being a cloud in the sky, off in the distance, was what appeared to be a dark cloud. Underneath that dark cloud was a huge cloud of dust that could mean only one thing. That black cloud was a swarm of Zerg flyers while the cloud of dust was being created by a large ground force.

And it was heading straight to Elysium.

Once the wall had been abandoned the Zerg started to swarm over it and come straight at the marines. It took three rounds of leapfrogging before the marines were in the streets and past the outer buildings.

Quickly Bishop got confirmation, from the other groups, that they were past the designated buildings and said to the demo team, “Light them up!” Instantly the outer buildings, all over town, exploded and were engulfed in flames. The Zerg unlucky enough to be near explosions were instantly incinerated while those that had gone past the building were cut off and alone.

In a matter of seconds Bishop and his marines had quickly finished off the survivors and continued to fall back. They fell into a rhythm of going ten feet and stopping. But all too quickly the Zerg were past the burning buildings and heading straight for them. Finally Bishop and his marines had reached the Town Square with the enemy hot on their heels.

Just before they stepped into the large area Bishop had everyone throw their grenades. They would be effective in the narrow streets and buy them enough time to run the distance to the barricade.

As the grenades exploded behind him, Bishop noticed that the barricade had been created by using the cars and trucks of the civilian population. He couldn’t help but admire Sam’s solution for erecting a barricade so quickly.

Within seconds Bishop, along with the surviving marines, had hopped over the cars and taken up position behind the wall. But the news was not good. Aside from his men only a few from the Eastern and Southern walls had made it to the second barricade.

“Mac,” Bishop shouted. Instantly Macintyre was at his side along with Sam. “Mac, I will need you to implement Protocol 13 on my order. So head down there and stand ready.”

“Colonel,” Macintyre protested.

Bishop quickly cut him off. “I don’t have time for arguing Mac! Just do it!”

With a sour smile Macintyre said, “Yes Colonel darling,” and ran off into the building.

As Bishop looked around to see how everyone was situated he felt a soft hand gently hold his. He looked over at Sam and they gazed at each other for a minute. With a gentle squeeze he let go and, with her following him, took up position with the other defenders and opened fire.

For a full hour they were able to hold back the Zerg swarm, at the streets, while the sun was starting to touch the western horizon. Yet Elysium was engulfed in flames. The outer buildings had ignited other buildings, in close proximity, so that a chain reaction had occurred.

Suddenly the sky became dark, despite the sun still being out, and the flapping of wings became deafening over the roar of the fire. The large army, that Bishop had spotted earlier, had arrived.

In unison the Mutilisks swung their tails forward and let loose a volley of spiked projectiles as the enemy ground forces started to flood the Town Square. Without hesitation Bishop grabbed Sam, threw her to the ground, and covered her with his body. All around him dozens of marines and civilians were impaled by the Mutalisks’ spikes.

Bishop, out of the corner of his eye, saw Lieutenant Brand fall with a spike in his heart. Shortly after his Comm Officer was beheaded by the scythe-like arms of a Hydralisk.

Quickly he got up, pulling Sam with him, and started to run towards the building while shouting, “Retreat!”

It was chaos as everyone tried to make it to the building only to be cut down by a Hydralisk, get hit in the back with a spiked projectile, or covered in acid by a Baneling. By the time Bishop and Sam had made it inside the building there were only two dozen people left.

They barred the thick, metal door and stood in a large hall.

Bishop had his arm around Sam, who had tears running down her face. In a despondent voice he said to the survivors, “Head down to the lower level with the women and children. It is the safest place now.”

As the survivors made their way down to the third level, Bishop and Sam made their way to Mac who was on the second lower level.

There was nothing left to say so Bishop and Sam left the room and headed down the hallway to an empty office. They closed the heavy metal door and stood facing each other.

“I’m glad that I got to meet you Sam Stafford,” Bishop said tenderly as he took off the cumbersome chest armor.

“Samantha,” Sam divulged. “You can call me Samantha.”

“My name is Darren.”

With tears running down her face Samantha repeated, “Darren.”

“I wish we had met long before all of this…” Bishop said, but stopped when Samantha shook her head.

Quietly she said, “Let’s be glad that we got to meet at all.”

Clicking on his comm unit, one last time, Bishop said, “Mac. Start her up.”

“It was a pleasure serving with ya Colonel darling,” Mac stated.

“Likewise Mac,” Bishop answered.

Then he looked at Samantha and gently took her into his arms. As Elysium burned outside they kissed. They kissed deeply and passionately, trying to wring every last moment out of it. They were so caught up within that kiss that they didn’t hear the hiss of the metal door as it melted. Nor feel the pain as a Hydralisk’s scythe-like arm impaled them both.

Nor did they see the flash of light as the nuke went off. Off-topic:

So here is the rough draft with some editing done. Based on the suggestion of Jick_Hambleton I removed the first few paragraphs so the opening is different.

I had to cut quite a bit from the story because it ended up being 7,900 words. Unfortunately it has to be 7,500 or less for the contest.

Feedback and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. I am going to let this story sit for a little while before turning it in. It will, hopefully, allow me to read it again with fresh eyes.

The final word Count is 7,495 with the story being about 17 pages long in Word using a size 12 Times New Roman font.

The story has to be submitted by 11:59pm pst on August 23(Monday). I would love to have someone take a look at it for me and fix any grammatical mistakes I might have made. Unfortunately I have a long shift at work so I'd be home around 6:00pm est. Since I live on the East Coast this would mean that I still have some time to work on it.

I'm thinking of changing the ending of the story. A lot of stuff had to be cut in which I wanted to explore Bishop and Sam's growing relatinoship. Does it seem out of place at this point? Or too dramatic?